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WASHINGTON— As the 2014 Winter Olympics wrap up in Russia, the next three Olympic destinations already are known. Where the Summer and Winter Games will be held after 2020, though, is still to be determined.

From Sochi, Russia, the Olympic flame will travel to Rio de Janiero, Brazil, which was announced as the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics in 2009. The Rio games plan on using some of the same facilities that Brazil is building and upgrading for the FIFA World Cup, which the country will host later this year. Much of that World Cup construction, however, is behind schedule -- plagued by protests, accidents, and threats of worker strikes.

Lisa Delpy Neirotti, a professor of sports management at George Washington University, worries the double duty of hosting the World Cup and Summer Olympics back-to-back might be difficult.

“It may have been too much for Brazil, which is still developing and still struggling to figure out what it wants to be, and how to break out of the developing country stage," said Neirotti. "They still have high corruption, still a number of issues that, really, the organizers were trying to show that they were beyond that, and that they could do these games without that much corruption. Unfortunately it just didn’t happen.”

In 2018, the Olympic Winter Games will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea. This will be South Korea’s second Olympics, and its first Winter Games.

The 2020 Summer Olympics will stay in Asia -- Tokyo was announced as host late last year.

“Tokyo had an excellent bid, and they were safe. Yes, there was concern about the nuclear issues, things like that. The IOC was tired of worrying about whether facilities will be done, how much corruption there is, and they know in Tokyo, they are very organized, they will put on great games without too much worry,” said Neirotti.

Beijing hosted the summer games in 2008. The city says it would stage the indoor ice sports and opening and closing ceremonies -- while relying on Zhangjiakou more than 160 kilometers (100 miles) away for the outdoor events. Traditionally, however, the IOC likes to move the games around as much as possible -- meaning a third-straight Asian games is unlikely.

The race for the 2024 Summer Olympics is wide open.

The United States Olympic Committee has not decided whether it will bid, but Bob Sweeney, CEO of a group called "DC 2024," said Washington D.C. is very interested.

“We are an international, cosmopolitan, thriving city now," Sweeney said.

Boston, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles also have expressed interest in bringing the Summer Games back to the United States for the first time since 1996. Paris, Rome, Budapest, Nairobi and Istanbul are also considering bids.

Manned deep space missions are still a long way off, but space agencies are already testing procedures, equipment and human stamina for operations in extreme environment conditions. Small groups of astronauts take turns in spending days in an underwater lab, off Florida’s southern coast, simulating future missions to some remote world. VOA’s George Putic reports.

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Manned deep space missions are still a long way off, but space agencies are already testing procedures, equipment and human stamina for operations in extreme environment conditions. Small groups of astronauts take turns in spending days in an underwater lab, off Florida’s southern coast, simulating future missions to some remote world. VOA’s George Putic reports.

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Fifty years ago, lawmakers approved, and U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed, the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The measure outlawed racial discrimination in voting, giving millions of blacks in many parts of the southern United States federal enforcement of the right to vote. Correspondent Chris Simkins introduces us to some civil rights leaders who were on the front lines in the struggle for voting rights.

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Billions of dollars of so-called ‘dirty money’ from the proceeds of crime - especially from Russia - are being laundered through the London property market, according to anti-corruption activists. As Henry Ridgwell reports from the British capital, the government has pledged to crack down on the practice.

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Ottawa, Illinois, is the hometown of W.D. Boyce, who founded the Boy Scouts of America in 1910. In Ottawa, where Scouting remains an important part of the legacy of the community, the end of the organization's ban on openly gay adult leaders was seen as inevitable. VOA's Kane Farabaugh reports.

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Artificial limbs, including the most complex of them – the human hand – are getting more life-like and useful due to constant advances in tiny hydraulic, pneumatic and electric motors called actuators. But now, as VOA’s George Putic reports, scientists in Germany say the future of the prosthetic hand may lie not in motors but in wires that can ‘remember’ their shape.

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A British pro-democracy group has accused Russia of abusing the global law enforcement agency Interpol by requesting the arrest and extradition of political opponents. A new report by the group notes such requests can mean the accused are unable to travel and are often unable to open bank accounts. VOA's Henry Ridgwell reports.

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Talks on a major new trade agreement among 12 Pacific Rim nations are said to be nearing completion in Hawaii. Some trade experts say the "positive atmosphere" at the discussions could mean a deal is within reach, but there is still hard bargaining to be done over many issues and products, including U.S. drugs and Japanese rice. VOA's Jim Randle reports.

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Earth is in the midst of its sixth mass extinction. The last such event was caused by an asteroid 66 million years ago. It killed off the dinosaurs and practically everything else. So scientists are in a race against time to classify the estimated 11 million species alive today. So far only 2 million are described by science, and researchers are worried many will disappear before they even have a name. VOA’s Rosanne Skirble reports.

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Scientists have long been trying to develop an effective protection and cure for malaria - one of the deadliest diseases that affects people in tropical areas, especially children. As the World Health Organization announces plans to begin clinical trials of a promising new vaccine, scientists in South Africa report that they too are at an important threshold. George Putic reports, they are testing a compound that could be a single-dose cure for malaria.

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The latest issue of 'New York' magazine features 35 women who say they were drugged and raped by film and television celebrity Bill Cosby. The women are aged from 44 to 80 and come from different walks of life and races. The magazine interviewed each of them separately, but Zlatica Hoke reports their stories are similar.

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The United States is promising not to give up its fight against what Secretary of State John Kerry calls the “scourge” of modern slavery. Officials released the country’s annual human trafficking report Monday – a report that’s being met with some criticism. VOA’s National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin has more from the State Department.

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Abandoned more than 50 years ago, the underground streetcar station in Washington D.C.’s historic DuPont Circle district is about to be reborn. The plan calls for turning the spacious underground platforms - once meant to be a transportation hub, - into a unique space for art exhibitions, presentations, concerts and even a film set. Roman Mamonov has more from beneath the streets of the U.S. capital. Joy Wagner narrates his report.

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Greece has replaced Italy as the main gateway for migrants into Europe, with more than 100,000 arrivals in the first six months of 2015. Many want to move further into Europe and escape Greece’s economic crisis, but they face widespread dangers on the journey overland through the Balkans. VOA's Henry Ridgwell reports.

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After the closure of a major rubbish dump a week ago, the streets of Beirut are filling up with trash. Having failed to draw up a plan B, politicians are struggling to deal with the problem. John Owens has more for VOA from Beirut.

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A U.N. climate conference in December aims to produce an ambitious agreement to fight heat-trapping greenhouse gases. But many local governments are not waiting, and have drafted their own climate action plans. That’s the case with Paris — which is getting special attention, since it’s hosting the climate summit. Lisa Bryant takes a look for VOA at the transformation of the French capital into an eco-city.